


Lover's divided by a wall

by VolsungartheMighty



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe!-Human, Graphic Depiction of Suicide, I'm warning you, It will break your heart, M/M, Pyramus and Thisbe, Suicide, This is the angstiest shit i've written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-08 13:41:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14695355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolsungartheMighty/pseuds/VolsungartheMighty
Summary: Corey Bryant only wanted some peace when he stormed off to the corner of his garden. He wasn't expecting to find Mason on the other side of the garden wall and befriend him. But after an incident with their parents, they decide to run away from home. But things... they don't go to plan.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GlitterCake20](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterCake20/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Sammy!!!  
> I'm warning you now, this fic depicts suicide and major character death. If you are triggered by either of those things, leave now, since you have been warned. This is the angstiest shit i have ever written so far, and you can all blame Sammy for requesting something this tragic. Again, you have all been warned.

Corey hated his parents with a passion.

Being the only son of rich parents meant that they tried to control every aspect of his life. What he studied, what college he would go to, what job he would get into after college. What he could read, who he hung out with.

They even had his future wife already planned out for him.

If anything, that was the worst part about it. His parents _knew_ he was gay and refused to believe it. In fact, they thought it was a cry for attention, and his dads answer to that had been to take him to a strip club to prove that he wasn’t.

And so that was when Corey had truly despised his parents. When they thought his sexuality was unimportant to _their_ plans for _him._

And so, he’d run into the back yard, into the furthest corner from the mansion he and his parents lived in. And it was there, while he was hiding in the corner away from his parents that he found a friend.

A friend through a small hole in the wall called Mason.

***

Mason had been shocked when he’d heard someone crying in his little corner of the garden. He wasn’t expecting it, since his brothers and sisters tended to leave him alone when he was in the garden. They very rarely went into the garden, and never so far as to go into his corner, so he had no idea who it was.

But when he got there, it was to find that there was no one there, in his corner. The sobbing was there, louder than it had been, but his corner was empty of life. He looked around, attempting to find the source of the sobbing, and found a small hole in the wall, perfectly round and about an inch in diameter. It was like it was meant to have a pipe running through the wall that was just… no longer there.

He knelt down in front of the hole, pressing his eye up to the hole to see if he could find anyone on the other side. But he could only see green grass and trees on the other side. Whoever it was that was on the other side of the wall was too far off to the side for Mason to see. So he did the next best thing. He talked.

“Hello?” He tentatively asked, quietly hoping that whoever it was would reply. The sobbing stopped, but he could still hear slight sniffling on the other side. “Is everything okay over there?”

He heard some shuffling as the other person moved around, as if finding the source of Mason’s voice, and he heard harsh breathing on the other side. And then they spoke.

“What do you want? How could you help?” the voice said, a harsh whisper against the silence surrounding them.

Mason was surprised at the venom in the boy’s voice but kept his cool. He’d has his own episodes like this, lashing out at anyone who wanted to help. So he simply said, “Just tell me what’s wrong and I might be able to help you. My names Mason, by the way.”

The boy growled, actually growled, in frustration, but Mason kept his cool, waiting for a reply. He didn’t say anything, waiting for this mysterious boy to pluck up the courage to talk.

He heard a ragged intake of breath, before the boy breathed out “My names Corey. My parents are being assholes is all.”

Mason nodded, before realising that Corey couldn’t see him. “I understand.”

“What would you know of parents being assholes?” Corey asked harshly, and Mason heard the shuffling of the grass and dead leaves on Corey’s side of the wall. Mason peered through the hole, trying to see what Corey was doing, and found a pair of legs standing in front of the hole.

“I know what it’s like when your parents refuse to believe you are who you say you are” Mason said quietly, a wave of anger and disappointment washing over him. “I know what it’s like to have your parents throw your sexuality under the bus because they think it’s a cry for attention…”

He heard more shuffling, and he watched through the hole as Corey sat, looking through the hole at him.

“You too, huh?” Was all the boy said, eyeing Mason through the hole. His eyes were red and puffy, but Mason could see a hint of a smile on Corey’s lips.

It was the start of a wonderful friendship for the two of them.

***

The walk back to the house was… terrible, to say the least. Despite his breakdown, and the helping hand of his new friend Mason, Corey still felt like shit. His parents weren’t going to have changed their views on his sexuality, but he now had something hopeful to look forward to.

As he walked into the house, he knew nothing had changed. They still talked about him as if he wasn’t in the room with them, talking about the new girl they had picked out for him to date. He ignored them, just as they ignored him, as he made his way up the stairs and to his room.

Once the door to his room was closed behind him, he let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. He had his own secret friend, one that his parents hadn’t approved of. One that he actually enjoyed interacting with.

It wasn’t until that night, when he and his parents were sitting around the kitchen table, the house staff serving each new course that his parents said anything to him.

“I don’t want you interacting with those niggers who moved in next door, Corey” his father said, his usual commanding tone in his voice.

Corey’s blood ran cold, wondering how on earth his father knew about him interacting with Mason. But his next words gave him some relief, relief he dared not show while in the presence of his father.

“I put the Hewitt patriarch in jail for drug trafficking” Corey’s father continued. “If the actions of the father are anything to go by, all of them will be drug traffickers at some point. They should all be in prison, in my opinion. Them and the rest of their kind.”

Corey frowned inwardly, hating every word his father said. His experience with Mason told him otherwise that his father’s opinions were invalid. Hell, _he_ was a reason that his father’s opinions were invalid.

He found that the next few weeks passed quickly, going to school during the day, and spending his nights in the corner of his garden, conversing with Mason through the hole in the wall. They talked about everything under the sun, from literature to music, science and nature. They held conversations until they were so tired that they fell asleep in their respective gardens, almost sleeping together.

Yet no matter how much they talked, they continued to be divided by the wall separating their gardens.

It wasn’t until another night, after his parents had bitched and complained about something he was supposedly meant to do but had no idea he was meant to, he stormed into the garden, his blood boiling as he stormed to the little corner he and Mason shared. He was too early, he knew that, but he would wait for Mason. He would always wait for the boy, the boy he was sure he loved.

And so, he sat, and he waited, avoiding the disapproving looks of his parents and waiting for his one true friend.

***

It was dark when Mason arrived home from the prison visit. He had been both unwilling and unable to tell Corey that his father was in prison. Unwilling because he knew who Corey was. Knew that it was Corey’s lawyer of a father who had sent Mason’s own to jail. He knew his mother would be disapproving, and she had warned him from having anything to do with the Bryant’s living next door. He was unable to simply because… how do you start a conversation like that. _“Hey, my father’s in jail because of drug trafficking and your fathers the one who put him there.”_ Yeah, no… Mason wasn’t doing that.

But aside from that, he felt like the connection he had with Corey was something he wanted, something he needed. He truly felt like he loved the boy.

When he made it to the crack in the wall, it was to find that Corey was already there on his side, breathing harshly as if he had just been in a fight. He sat down, pressing his lips to the wall and asked, “Is everything okay Corey?”

“I’m just frustrated” Corey whined, and he was suddenly sobbing. Mason couldn’t help but feel hurt for the boy, wanting to hold him tight and mutter sweet nothings in his ear. But he couldn’t, so he simply stayed quiet, waiting for Corey to speak. “My parents won’t stop harassing me about _everything_.”

“What do you mean?” Mason asked, not expecting much of an answer. They generally avoided the topic of their families. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of them.

“They want me to start dating this girl they’ve picked out for me” Corey said softly.

“Oh” was all Mason could say. What could he say, when his friend’s homophobic parents tried to hook him up with a girl.

“Yeah” Corey breathed out. “And that’s not the worst part. You know how it was my eighteenth the other day?” Mason muttered out an affirmative before Corey continued. “They want me to _continue the family line_. Which is _so_ not going to happen the way they plan, if ever.” Corey let out a frustrated groan, before he muttered “I need to get away from this hell hole that is my life.”

Mason felt his stomach drop. Did Corey really feel that way about Mason too?

But Corey had continued speaking, unaware of Mason’s inner struggle.

“You’re probably the only good thing in my life right now Mason” Corey said, his voice wafting through the hole in the wall to Mason, cooling his inner turmoil. “I probably would have run away before this, had I not met you.”

Mason let the words sink in, and then his mouth was moving before his brain could catch up. “Why don’t we run away now? Like, not _now_ , now. It’s too late. But tomorrow night. We can run away from our families, and just spend our time together?”

Corey said nothing for a moment, and Mason thought Corey was going to say no.

“God, I fucking love you” Corey said, and when Mason looked through the hole, all he could see was Corey with a broad smile on his face, a look of wonder and excitement on his face.

“I love you to Corey” Mason said, pouring as much honesty into his voice as he could. “I would kiss you if it weren’t for this wall.”

“Well you can kiss me tomorrow when we run away, how does that sound?” Corey asked, a hint of mischief in his voice.

Mason simply smiled, agreeing with Corey. And then his name was being called by his mother, insistently calling for him to come inside.

“I’ve got to go, mums calling me” Mason said, lips pressed to the hole in a wall, his words coming out in a rush. “I’ll see you at the nemeton in the woods, about 10:30, okay?”

“Okay” Corey said softly, and then Mason was running back through the garden and into the house, ducking under his mother’s disapproving glare.

On the outside, he looked to be stony and silent, unresponsive to any questions directed to him for the rest of the night. But on the inside, he was a nervous wreck. This time tomorrow, he would be long gone from here, hand in hand with Corey, running away from their horrible families.

***

The next night found, Corey found himself in the middle of the woods, far out of his comfort zone, and surprised he had even made it out of the house.

He hadn’t exactly been quiet when he had left.

He hefted his heavy back pack a little higher on his shoulder, dreading how far he was going to have to walk after he met up with Mason. But he was excited too, since it would be the first time he saw the boy without a wall in the way.

He continued to walk, however, knowing that he didn’t have too far to go. His head bent against the cold wind, he followed the beaten and worn path until it opened up into a clearing, the dead stump of the nemeton sitting in the exact centre. A small stream traced it’s was through the clearing, the bubbling water a calming sound in the silence of the night.

Corey dragged his feet over to the stump, setting down his bag and shucking off the heavy jacket he was wearing. Despite the cold, he was boiling underneath the jacket and needed to cool down.

He’d been relaxing for only a moment when a low growl reached his ears, loud enough to drown out the bubbling stream. He whipped his head up, looking around the clearing for the source of the noise, standing suddenly when he found the source.

A large, white wolf stood at the edge of the clearing, it’s muzzle a dark crimson. It had killed something recently, or someone, and Corey didn’t want to be its next meal. He backed away from the wolf, arms raised to show he wasn’t a threat, until he was just within the ring of tree’s, before he turned and ran away, thankful when he didn’t hear the sound of feet chasing him.

***

The wolf was… confused when it found a two legs in its clearing. It wasn’t meant to be here, that much it knew. So it growled at the intruder who dared to enter it’s territory, who dared to not show it the proper respect.

The two legs reacted the way the wolf expected, with fear. It stood, standing awkwardly on it’s two hind legs, raising its front legs in a weird motion, backing out of the clearing before it bolted away.

The wolf stopped growling once the two legs had left. It wasn’t going to chase after it, for it had just eaten a filling meal, and could not stomach running after it.

Instead, it went to the stream, lapping up some water to quench its thirst, before turning back to the dead tree. The two legs had left its belongings on the dead tree, and the wolf walked over to the odd items. It took a sniff of the items, before tearing into them with its teeth.

Teeth that were still bloody from its recent kill.

It soon left the clearing, the two leg’s belongings blood splattered and in shreds.

That would teach the stupid two legs a lesson.

***

Mason was panting as he ran through the woods. He had nothing on him but the bare essentials, thankful he hadn’t bothered to get much.

His mother had been suspicious, and so had made sure security around the mansion was tighter than usual. He had been caught and run off the moment he’d been seen, but the security guards had taken chase.

He’d managed to outrun them, but it was later than he had intended, closer to eleven. He hoped Corey was still there and hadn’t given up on him.

He burst into the clearing, leaves falling around him and the echoing sound of twigs and branches breaking ringing through the clearing. He looked around, his heart falling when he found no sign of Corey.

He moved further into the clearing, eyes scanning the ground for any sign of another human being. But his heart stopped when he found a bloody shred of fabric lying on the ground.

He reached down, careful to pick it up where it was free of blood.

His heart was hammering in his chest, his eyes frantic as they searched through the cgrass, eyes landing on even more pieces of fabric fluttering through the clearing on the light breeze.

He circled the dead nemeton, not as shocked to find traces of another human being but horrified all the same. He ran over to the belongings, looking for any form of identification as tears streamed down his cheeks as he muttered “Please don’t be Corey. Please don’t be Corey. Please don’t be Corey.”

But whatever cruel god existed didn’t seem to listen, for he found a nametag on the remains of the bag he found amongst the belongings. Scrawled across the tag in neat handwriting was the name _Corey Bryant_.

Mason felt his heart shatter as he read the name on the tag over and over again, breaking down then and there as he screamed into the night air.

His _one_ chance at freedom was gone. If he returned, he’d be lucky to alive once his mother was done with him. And once his father got out of prison and found out… well, there’d be a shallow grave and some new daisies when he did. He couldn’t return home, but he couldn’t go on, not without Corey. He didn’t know what he would do.

Despite his pain, he rifled through the contents of the bag, finding a laptop, phone, a few cords and a tablet stored within, along with some food and water, a bit of rope and, surprisingly, a small pocket knife.

He held the last item in his hand as he sat down, leaning against the stump of the nemeton. He quickly realized it was a switch blade, pressing on the button to let the blade out. He eyed the cool steel, a thought entering his mind, one that, as the minutes continued to tick by, grew more and more appealing.

He sat like that for a few minutes, contemplating what he was about to do. Gathering the courage for it too.

He nodded to himself once, moving the blade so that the sharp edge was pressed against the wrist of his left hand. He closed his eyes as he swiped downward with the blade, the sharp sting of the metal causing a hiss to leave his mouth. Warmth bloomed against his wrist as the blood streamed out of the severed artery. He opened his eyes, passing the knife to his other hand, now shaking as the blood drained out of him. He pressed it against the wrist of his right hand, and again swiped downward, not closing his eyes this time, choosing instead to watch the blood stream from his wrists.

He put down the knife at his side, his arms suddenly feeling heavy and numb, his vision slowly tunnelling. He groaned as the energy drained out of him and he fell to the side, facing the sky. His eyes fluttered closed, staring out into the starry night as he waited for deaths final embrace.

As his eyes finally slid shut and he was left in the darkness of his own thoughts, words flittered through the murky darkness to him, one’s he recognised. One’s that were fitting to his circumstances.

_Farewell to you all stars above_

_Goodbye to all the ones that I have loved_

_I miss you so much, but it’s okay_

_I’ll sleep well cause somewhere you are safe_

_This I know when I take my last breath_

***

Corey found himself circling back around, having realized he’d left his stuff there. A look at his watch told him it was just after eleven. He’d arrived at the clearing just on time, like Mason had said, but the wolf had terrified him.

So, he had simply run, not bothering to take his stuff, rationalising that he could come back and grab it later. When twenty minutes passed and there was no sign of the wolf following him, he had stopped and turned back, following the trail he had made through the tree’s

He will admit, he got a little lost on the way back, but he got there eventually, head bowed and rubbing his arms to get some warmth back into his limbs. More than anything, he wanted to prove to Mason that he could do this. Defy his family’s expectations of him and run away with his only friend, perhaps even his lover.

But when he arrived back at the clearing and looked up from the ground, the sight he found before him froze him to the spot in shock.

But once the shock wore off, Corey ran forward, not believing the sight before him.

Mason lay on the ground, face pointing skyward, eyes closed. But what shocked Corey the most was the blood. The blood streaming from Mason’s wrists and staining his shirt a deep crimson, soaking into the ground beneath him.

Tears were streaming down his face as he fell to the ground beside Mason, cradling his head in his lap. All he could do was repeat the same word over and over again as he cried. A simple “No”, repeated endlessly, as if the single word would bring Mason back.

When he’d cried away the tears and all that was left were dry sobs, he managed to regain his voice, hoarse from sobbing and repeating the one word over and over.

“Why did you do this Mason?” Corey muttered, leaning down to place a kiss to one of the still warm cheeks. “What made you think I would leave you?” He kissed Mason’s other cheek. “What made you think I didn’t love you?” He leaned down, placing one final kiss to Mason’s now cold lips.

As if by a miracle, Mason’s eye’s opened, his mouth working as if to speak, but no words came out. One hand moved, and Corey followed where it pointed, finding the pile of his discarded and bloody belongings, and his switch blade. He gasped when he realized why his belongings were bloody, but it was too late now. There was no way he could turn back time and stop what happened.

He looked back down at Mason, his eyes closed. But he was still breathing.

“Why did you do it?” Corey whispered, not expecting an answer.

But god seemed to have other plans, and Mason answered. “Because I love you, Corey. And I thought you were dead and didn’t want to live without you.”

Corey opened his mouth to ask something else, but the words seemed to have sapped the last of Mason’s strength, for his breathing stopped a few seconds after he finished speaking.

Corey didn’t know if he had any tears left to cry, but it seemed like he did, the tears falling onto Mason’s face as he cried, cried and prayed for a miracle that never came.

His eyes wandered over Mason’s body, landing on the knife that Mason had used to do the deed, lying next to his leg. He eyed it off, dark thoughts filling his mind.

He tried to fight them off, he really did. But what was there left to live for? His parents neglected him and probably wouldn’t care that he was dead. His only friend was lying dead in his lap, and he was the only person Corey had ever loved.

He reached over, grasping the handle, eyeing it much like mason had just minutes before. But unlike Mason, he didn’t think anything over. He gripped the handle tightly as he placed the blade against his throat, digging the sharp edge in and pulling the blade across in one swift motion.

He gasped as his throat burned, having cut into his wind pipe, his lungs suddenly burning for air, as blood streamed from the cut and down his front, staining his clothes dark red.

His vision quickly blurred as his head felt heavy and stuffy. His limbs ached and the sound of his heart beating in his ears drowned out everything. His eyes closed as he leaned back against the nemeton, a single thought floating to the surface of his numbing mind, one he managed to gurgle out around the blood pooling in his throat and mouth.

“I love you Mason. I love you in this life and the next.”

His eyes slid shut and he soon lost consciousness.

And he knew no more.


	2. Alternate Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The same story as the last chapter, only it has a happy ending.

Corey hated his parents with a passion.

Being the only son of rich parents meant that they tried to control every aspect of his life. What he studied, what college he would go to, what job he would get into after college. What he could read, who he hung out with.

They even had his future wife already planned out for him.

If anything, that was the worst part about it. His parents _knew_ he was gay and refused to believe it. In fact, they thought it was a cry for attention, and his dads answer to that had been to take him to a strip club to prove that he wasn’t.

And so that was when Corey had truly despised his parents. When they thought his sexuality was unimportant to _their_ plans for _him._

And so, he’d run into the back yard, into the furthest corner from the mansion he and his parents lived in. And it was there, while he was hiding in the corner away from his parents that he found a friend.

A friend through a small hole in the wall called Mason.

***

Mason had been shocked when he’d heard someone crying in his little corner of the garden. He wasn’t expecting it, since his brothers and sisters tended to leave him alone when he was in the garden. They very rarely went into the garden, and never so far as to go into his corner, so he had no idea who it was.

But when he got there, it was to find that there was no one there, in his corner. The sobbing was there, louder than it had been, but his corner was empty of life. He looked around, attempting to find the source of the sobbing, and found a small hole in the wall, perfectly round and about an inch in diameter. It was like it was meant to have a pipe running through the wall that was just… no longer there.

He knelt down in front of the hole, pressing his eye up to the hole to see if he could find anyone on the other side. But he could only see green grass and trees on the other side. Whoever it was that was on the other side of the wall was too far off to the side for Mason to see. So he did the next best thing. He talked.

“Hello?” He tentatively asked, quietly hoping that whoever it was would reply. The sobbing stopped, but he could still hear slight sniffling on the other side. “Is everything okay over there?”

He heard some shuffling as the other person moved around, as if finding the source of Mason’s voice, and he heard harsh breathing on the other side. And then they spoke.

“What do you want? How could you help?” the voice said, a harsh whisper against the silence surrounding them.

Mason was surprised at the venom in the boy’s voice but kept his cool. He’d has his own episodes like this, lashing out at anyone who wanted to help. So he simply said, “Just tell me what’s wrong and I might be able to help you. My names Mason, by the way.”

The boy growled, actually growled, in frustration, but Mason kept his cool, waiting for a reply. He didn’t say anything, waiting for this mysterious boy to pluck up the courage to talk.

He heard a ragged intake of breath, before the boy breathed out “My names Corey. My parents are being assholes is all.”

Mason nodded, before realising that Corey couldn’t see him. “I understand.”

“What would you know of parents being assholes?” Corey asked harshly, and Mason heard the shuffling of the grass and dead leaves on Corey’s side of the wall. Mason peered through the hole, trying to see what Corey was doing, and found a pair of legs standing in front of the hole.

“I know what it’s like when your parents refuse to believe you are who you say you are” Mason said quietly, a wave of anger and disappointment washing over him. “I know what it’s like to have your parents throw your sexuality under the bus because they think it’s a cry for attention…”

He heard more shuffling, and he watched through the hole as Corey sat, looking through the hole at him.

“You too, huh?” Was all the boy said, eyeing Mason through the hole. His eyes were red and puffy, but Mason could see a hint of a smile on Corey’s lips.

It was the start of a wonderful friendship for the two of them.

***

The walk back to the house was… terrible, to say the least. Despite his breakdown, and the helping hand of his new friend Mason, Corey still felt like shit. His parents weren’t going to have changed their views on his sexuality, but he now had something hopeful to look forward to.

As he walked into the house, he knew nothing had changed. They still talked about him as if he wasn’t in the room with them, talking about the new girl they had picked out for him to date. He ignored them, just as they ignored him, as he made his way up the stairs and to his room.

Once the door to his room was closed behind him, he let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. He had his own secret friend, one that his parents hadn’t approved of. One that he actually enjoyed interacting with.

It wasn’t until that night, when he and his parents were sitting around the kitchen table, the house staff serving each new course that his parents said anything to him.

“I don’t want you interacting with those niggers who moved in next door, Corey” his father said, his usual commanding tone in his voice.

Corey’s blood ran cold, wondering how on earth his father knew about him interacting with Mason. But his next words gave him some relief, relief he dared not show while in the presence of his father.

“I put the Hewitt patriarch in jail for drug trafficking” Corey’s father continued. “If the actions of the father are anything to go by, all of them will be drug traffickers at some point. They should all be in prison, in my opinion. Them and the rest of their kind.”

Corey frowned inwardly, hating every word his father said. His experience with Mason told him otherwise that his father’s opinions were invalid. Hell, _he_ was a reason that his father’s opinions were invalid.

He found that the next few weeks passed quickly, going to school during the day, and spending his nights in the corner of his garden, conversing with Mason through the hole in the wall. They talked about everything under the sun, from literature to music, science and nature. They held conversations until they were so tired that they fell asleep in their respective gardens, almost sleeping together.

Yet no matter how much they talked, they continued to be divided by the wall separating their gardens.

It wasn’t until another night, after his parents had bitched and complained about something he was supposedly meant to do but had no idea he was meant to, he stormed into the garden, his blood boiling as he stormed to the little corner he and Mason shared. He was too early, he knew that, but he would wait for Mason. He would always wait for the boy, the boy he was sure he loved.

And so, he sat, and he waited, avoiding the disapproving looks of his parents and waiting for his one true friend.

***

It was dark when Mason arrived home from the prison visit. He had been both unwilling and unable to tell Corey that his father was in prison. Unwilling because he knew who Corey was. Knew that it was Corey’s lawyer of a father who had sent Mason’s own to jail. He knew his mother would be disapproving, and she had warned him from having anything to do with the Bryant’s living next door. He was unable to simply because… how do you start a conversation like that. _“Hey, my father’s in jail because of drug trafficking and your fathers the one who put him there.”_ Yeah, no… Mason wasn’t doing that.

But aside from that, he felt like the connection he had with Corey was something he wanted, something he needed. He truly felt like he loved the boy.

When he made it to the crack in the wall, it was to find that Corey was already there on his side, breathing harshly as if he had just been in a fight. He sat down, pressing his lips to the wall and asked, “Is everything okay Corey?”

“I’m just frustrated” Corey whined, and he was suddenly sobbing. Mason couldn’t help but feel hurt for the boy, wanting to hold him tight and mutter sweet nothings in his ear. But he couldn’t, so he simply stayed quiet, waiting for Corey to speak. “My parents won’t stop harassing me about _everything_.”

“What do you mean?” Mason asked, not expecting much of an answer. They generally avoided the topic of their families. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of them.

“They want me to start dating this girl they’ve picked out for me” Corey said softly.

“Oh” was all Mason could say. What could he say, when his friend’s homophobic parents tried to hook him up with a girl.

“Yeah” Corey breathed out. “And that’s not the worst part. You know how it was my eighteenth the other day?” Mason muttered out an affirmative before Corey continued. “They want me to _continue the family line_. Which is _so_ not going to happen the way they plan, if ever.” Corey let out a frustrated groan, before he muttered “I need to get away from this hell hole that is my life.”

Mason felt his stomach drop. Did Corey really feel that way about Mason too?

But Corey had continued speaking, unaware of Mason’s inner struggle.

“You’re probably the only good thing in my life right now Mason” Corey said, his voice wafting through the hole in the wall to Mason, cooling his inner turmoil. “I probably would have run away before this, had I not met you.”

Mason let the words sink in, and then his mouth was moving before his brain could catch up. “Why don’t we run away now? Like, not _now_ , now. It’s too late. But tomorrow night. We can run away from our families, and just spend our time together?”

Corey said nothing for a moment, and Mason thought Corey was going to say no.

“God, I fucking love you” Corey said, and when Mason looked through the hole, all he could see was Corey with a broad smile on his face, a look of wonder and excitement on his face.

“I love you to Corey” Mason said, pouring as much honesty into his voice as he could. “I would kiss you if it weren’t for this wall.”

“Well you can kiss me tomorrow when we run away, how does that sound?” Corey asked, a hint of mischief in his voice.

Mason simply smiled, agreeing with Corey. And then his name was being called by his mother, insistently calling for him to come inside.

“I’ve got to go, mums calling me” Mason said, lips pressed to the hole in a wall, his words coming out in a rush. “I’ll see you at the nemeton in the woods, about 10:30, okay?”

“Okay” Corey said softly, and then Mason was running back through the garden and into the house, ducking under his mother’s disapproving glare.

On the outside, he looked to be stony and silent, unresponsive to any questions directed to him for the rest of the night. But on the inside, he was a nervous wreck. This time tomorrow, he would be long gone from here, hand in hand with Corey, running away from their horrible families.

***

The next night found, Corey found himself in the middle of the woods, far out of his comfort zone, and surprised he had even made it out of the house.

He hadn’t exactly been quiet when he had left.

He hefted his heavy back pack a little higher on his shoulder, dreading how far he was going to have to walk after he met up with Mason. But he was excited too, since it would be the first time he saw the boy without a wall in the way.

He continued to walk, however, knowing that he didn’t have too far to go. His head bent against the cold wind, he followed the beaten and worn path until it opened up into a clearing, the dead stump of the nemeton sitting in the exact centre. A small stream traced it’s was through the clearing, the bubbling water a calming sound in the silence of the night.

Corey dragged his feet over to the stump, setting down his bag and shucking off the heavy jacket he was wearing. Despite the cold, he was boiling underneath the jacket and needed to cool down.

He’d been relaxing for only a moment when a low growl reached his ears, loud enough to drown out the bubbling stream. He whipped his head up, looking around the clearing for the source of the noise, standing suddenly when he found the source.

A large, white wolf stood at the edge of the clearing, it’s muzzle a dark crimson. It had killed something recently, or someone, and Corey didn’t want to be its next meal. He backed away from the wolf, arms raised to show he wasn’t a threat, until he was just within the ring of tree’s, before he turned and ran away, thankful when he didn’t hear the sound of feet chasing him.

***

The wolf was… confused when it found a two legs in its clearing. It wasn’t meant to be here, that much it knew. So it growled at the intruder who dared to enter it’s territory, who dared to not show it the proper respect.

The two legs reacted the way the wolf expected, with fear. It stood, standing awkwardly on it’s two hind legs, raising its front legs in a weird motion, backing out of the clearing before it bolted away.

The wolf stopped growling once the two legs had left. It wasn’t going to chase after it, for it had just eaten a filling meal, and could not stomach running after it.

Instead, it went to the stream, lapping up some water to quench its thirst, before turning back to the dead tree. The two legs had left its belongings on the dead tree, and the wolf walked over to the odd items. It took a sniff of the items, before tearing into them with its teeth.

Teeth that were still bloody from its recent kill.

It soon left the clearing, the two leg’s belongings blood splattered and in shreds.

That would teach the stupid two legs a lesson.

***

Mason was panting as he ran through the woods. He had nothing on him but the bare essentials, thankful he hadn’t bothered to get much.

His mother had been suspicious, and so had made sure security around the mansion was tighter than usual. He had been caught and run off the moment he’d been seen, but the security guards had taken chase.

He’d managed to outrun them, but it was later than he had intended, closer to eleven. He hoped Corey was still there and hadn’t given up on him.

He burst into the clearing, leaves falling around him and the echoing sound of twigs and branches breaking ringing through the clearing. He looked around, his heart falling when he found no sign of Corey.

He moved further into the clearing, eyes scanning the ground for any sign of another human being. But his heart stopped when he found a bloody shred of fabric lying on the ground.

He reached down, careful to pick it up where it was free of blood.

His heart was hammering in his chest, his eyes frantic as they searched through the cgrass, eyes landing on even more pieces of fabric fluttering through the clearing on the light breeze.

He circled the dead nemeton, not as shocked to find traces of another human being but horrified all the same. He ran over to the belongings, looking for any form of identification as tears streamed down his cheeks as he muttered “Please don’t be Corey. Please don’t be Corey. Please don’t be Corey.”

But whatever cruel god existed didn’t seem to listen, for he found a nametag on the remains of the bag he found amongst the belongings. Scrawled across the tag in neat handwriting was the name _Corey Bryant_.

Mason felt his heart shatter as he read the name on the tag over and over again, breaking down then and there as he screamed into the night air.

His _one_ chance at freedom was gone. If he returned, he’d be lucky to alive once his mother was done with him. And once his father got out of prison and found out… well, there’d be a shallow grave and some new daisies when he did. He couldn’t return home, but he couldn’t go on, not without Corey. He didn’t know what he would do.

Despite his pain, he rifled through the contents of the bag, finding a laptop, phone, a few cords and a tablet stored within, along with some food and water, a bit of rope and, surprisingly, a small pocket knife.

He held the last item in his hand as he sat down, leaning against the stump of the nemeton. He quickly realized it was a switch blade, pressing on the button to let the blade out. He eyed the cool steel, a thought entering his mind, one that, as the minutes continued to tick by, grew more and more appealing.

He sat like that for a few minutes, contemplating what he was about to do. Gathering the courage for it too.

He nodded to himself once, moving the blade so that the sharp edge was pressed against the wrist of his left hand. He closed his eyes as he swiped downward with the blade, the sharp sting of the metal causing a hiss to leave his mouth. Warmth bloomed against his wrist as the blood streamed out of the severed artery. He opened his eyes, passing the knife to his other hand, now shaking as the blood drained out of him. He pressed it against the wrist of his right hand, and again swiped downward, not closing his eyes this time, choosing instead to watch the blood stream from his wrists.

He put down the knife at his side, his arms suddenly feeling heavy and numb, his vision slowly tunnelling. He groaned as the energy drained out of him and he fell to the side, facing the sky. His eyes fluttered closed, staring out into the starry night as he waited for deaths final embrace.

As his eyes finally slid shut and he was left in the darkness of his own thoughts, words flittered through the murky darkness to him, one’s he recognised. One’s that were fitting to his circumstances.

_Farewell to you all stars above_

_Goodbye to all the ones that I have loved_

_I miss you so much, but it’s okay_

_I’ll sleep well cause somewhere you are safe_

_This I know when I take my last breath_

***

Corey found himself circling back around, having realized he’d left his stuff there. A look at his watch told him it was just after eleven. He’d arrived at the clearing just on time, like Mason had said, but the wolf had terrified him.

So, he had simply run, not bothering to take his stuff, rationalising that he could come back and grab it later. When twenty minutes passed and there was no sign of the wolf following him, he had stopped and turned back, following the trail he had made through the tree’s

He will admit, he got a little lost on the way back, but he got there eventually, head bowed and rubbing his arms to get some warmth back into his limbs. More than anything, he wanted to prove to Mason that he could do this. Defy his family’s expectations of him and run away with his only friend, perhaps even his lover.

But when he arrived back at the clearing and looked up from the ground, the sight he found before him froze him to the spot in shock.

But once the shock wore off, Corey ran forward, not believing the sight before him.

Mason lay on the ground, face pointing skyward, eyes closed. But what shocked Corey the most was the blood. The blood streaming from Mason’s wrists and staining his shirt a deep crimson, soaking into the ground beneath him.

Tears were streaming down his face as he fell to the ground beside Mason, cradling his head in his lap. All he could do was repeat the same word over and over again as he cried. A simple “No”, repeated endlessly, as if the single word would bring Mason back.

When he’d cried away the tears and all that was left were dry sobs, he managed to regain his voice, hoarse from sobbing and repeating the one word over and over.

“Why did you do this Mason?” Corey muttered, leaning down to place a kiss to one of the still warm cheeks. “What made you think I would leave you?” He kissed Mason’s other cheek. “What made you think I didn’t love you?” He leaned down, placing one final kiss to Mason’s now cold lips.

As if by a miracle, Mason’s eye’s opened, his mouth working as if to speak, but no words came out. One hand moved, and Corey followed where it pointed, finding the pile of his discarded and bloody belongings, and his switch blade. He gasped when he realized why his belongings were bloody, but it was too late now. There was no way he could turn back time and stop what happened.

He looked back down at Mason, his eyes closed. But he was still breathing.

“Why did you do it?” Corey whispered, not expecting an answer.

But god seemed to have other plans, and Mason answered. “Because I love you, Corey. And I thought you were dead and didn’t want to live without you.”

Corey opened his mouth to ask something else, but the words seemed to have sapped the last of Mason’s strength, for his breathing stopped a few seconds after he finished speaking.

Corey didn’t know if he had any tears left to cry, but it seemed like he did, the tears falling onto Mason’s face as he cried, cried and prayed for a miracle that never came.

His eyes wandered over Mason’s body, landing on the knife that Mason had used to do the deed, lying next to his leg. He eyed it off, dark thoughts filling his mind.

He tried to fight them off, he really did. But what was there left to live for? His parents neglected him and probably wouldn’t care that he was dead. His only friend was lying dead in his lap, and he was the only person Corey had ever loved.

He reached over, grasping the handle, eyeing it much like mason had just minutes before. But unlike Mason, he didn’t think anything over. He gripped the handle tightly as he placed the blade against his throat, digging the sharp edge in and pulling the blade across in one swift motion.

He gasped as his throat burned, having cut into his wind pipe, his lungs suddenly burning for air, as blood streamed from the cut and down his front, staining his clothes dark red.

His vision quickly blurred as his head felt heavy and stuffy. His limbs ached and the sound of his heart beating in his ears drowned out everything. His eyes closed as he leaned back against the nemeton, a single thought floating to the surface of his numbing mind, one he managed to gurgle out around the blood pooling in his throat and mouth.

“I love you Mason. I love you in this life and the next.”

His eyes slid shut and he soon lost consciousness.

And he knew no more.

***

Corey woke with a scream, hands clutching at his neck for a wound that was not there. His breath came in great heaving gasps as his heart beat rapidly in his chest, slowly calming as his mind caught up and realised… nothing was wrong.

No one came to his screams, which wasn’t surprising. His parents always ignored him, always thinking everything he did was a cry for attention. But his eyes trailed across the room, eyeing everything, looking for anything out of place.

But everything was where it was meant to be. The dream was still seared into his mind, some kind of vision of what would happen. He checked his phone, noticing that it was only five in the morning, the day before they ran off.

The day went as every other day, but the fight he had had in his dream occurred, every word his parents had said in the dream echoed in reality.

But he didn’t storm out of the house in anger, but instead in contemplation. His mind was buzzing with thoughts of what was going to happen as he made his way through the garden, sitting down in his corner at the hole in the wall, waiting for Mason to arrive.

It was another two hours later when Mason arrived, the sun setting, casting the garden in shadow. He heard the rustling of grass and dead leaves and then Mason was talking through the hole. “Hey, Cor. Is everything okay?”

The worry in his voice was… overwhelming, and that was what started the sobbing as he said “I’m just frustrated. My parents wont stop harassing me about _everything.”_

There was a slight pause as Mason asked, “What do you mean?”

Corey was silent for a moment before he gave an answer. “They want me to start dating this girl they picked out for me.” A feeling of disgust rolled through him, at the thought of not being able to choose who he lived with. He heard a soft _“oh”_ from Mason, before he continued talking. “Yeah, I know. And that’s not the worst part, if you can believe it. As you know, my eighteenth was the other day, and I got this big talk about how they want me to _continue the family line_ , as if that is the most important thing we need to talk about. And it’s not gonna happen the way they want, but they fucking refuse to listen to me.”

He let out a breath, shuddering and harsh, before he spoke again. “I just need to get away from this hell hole of a life. I think you’re the only person I can call a friend in my life, Mason. The only person I have _ever_ called a friend.” Corey’s breathing had evened out a little, no longer as harsh. “If it weren’t for you, I probably would have run away by now.”

There was a pause between them for a moment before Mason spoke up “Why don’t we run away?”

Corey didn’t hear what ever else Mason said, suddenly hit with a sense of déjà vu. A terrifying sense of dread crept over him, and he shook his head to get rid of the dark thoughts.

“Can you… can you repeat that again, please?” Corey asked, as he looked through the hole to find Mason’s gaze on him.

“I said we could run away, tomorrow night. We can use the chance to get away from out families and just spend our time together.”

Corey nodded, suddenly filled with an overwhelming feeling of hope. “God, I fucking love you Mason” Corey gasped out, a broad smile on his face.

There was no hesitation from Mason as he replied, “I love you too Corey.”

There was a moment’s pause before Corey asked, lips quivering slightly, “Where are we going to meet tomorrow night?”

Mason frowned through the hole, thinking for a moment. “I was thinking at the Nemeton, in the woods at about 10:30.”

Corey shook his head, his mind flashing back to the vision from the night before. “Not there, anywhere but there.”

Mason frowned as he eyed Corey. “Okay… ah, what about the fountain, in the centre of town?”

Corey nodded. “That should do fine. Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologise Corey” Mason said, his voice soft. Corey heard a rustling through the hole, Mason turning in the grass as he heard something Corey couldn’t. “Mums calling me. I’ll see you tomorrow, at the fountain, okay?”

“Okay” Corey said as he watched Mason stand. “I love you Mason.”

“I love you too Corey” Mason whispered, and then he was leaving their little corner, hopefully for the last time.

***

The next night found Corey sitting on the edge of the town fountain as he waited for Mason to arrive. His bag sat at his feet under his jacket, his feet dangling over the ledge, too high for them to be on the ground.

A car rolled up to the curb in front of him, a great beast of a four wheeler, all black with dark windows. The window closest to him rolled down, revealing Mason sitting in the drivers seat, a worried look on his face. “Come on, quickly. We need to get out of here quickly.”

Corey nodded, grabbing everything his bag and jacket, running around the car and throwing it behind the passenger seat, before jumping in to the front next to Mason.

The engine roared as the car started moving down the road.

As they passed the _Leaving Beacon Hills_ sign, Corey looked to Mason a broad grin on his face.

“Thanks for this Mason” he said, reaching a hand over and gripping Mason’s thigh. An electric shock went up his arm as he realised this was the first time he had touched the boy. This is more than I thought we’d be able to do.”

Mason smiled as he leaned over briefly, capturing Corey’s lips in a kiss, quick and insistent, before he was pulling back to concentrate on the road. “I love you Corey. Of course, I’d steal my mum’s car if it meant we’d get to be together.”

Corey smiled at Mason’s words. “I love you too Mason” he said as he kept his hand on the boy’s thigh, reaching a hand over to turn on the radio.

As the music washed over them, filling the car, a woman’s voice started singing, beautiful and serene, yet sombre too. As the chorus came on, Corey felt like the words were fitting for his and Mason’s flight.

_Back to where the skies will ever take me_

_Down here in this prison I’ll be breaking_

_Far from here there is a place where I belong_

_I go home_

**Author's Note:**

> Now that you have finished this tragic tale, you should be glad to know that I will soon be posting an alternate ending as chapter 2. It will essentially be the same fic, but the ending is simply different and definitely not as tragic. If anything, i hope to make it happy. If i can just pick up the pieces of my shattered heart to do so.


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